Contest winners sling back wings
Mundelein restaurant Frank's for the Memories held its first wing-eating contest Saturday, accompanied by roosters and chickens, live music and great food.
Seven contestants had 15 minutes to dig into 3 pounds of wings.
Each basket of wings was weighed before the contest began. Then, a basket where the bones were discarded was weighed and that amount was subtracted from the original weight, to determine how much each contestant ate.
When the clock stopped, William "Joe" Paquette of Lake Villa had downed 1.8 pounds of wings, earning him the first place trophy and $125.
"I love wings. It's my favorite thing to eat," Paquette said.
With 1.7 pounds of wings under his belt, Dominic Alesio of Addison took second place and $75. "Big Al" Scaletta of Hawthorn Woods ate 1.55 pounds of wings for third place and $75.
"I run marathons, and carbohydrate loading is part of the training. I also like wings," said Scaletta, who wore rubber gloves, sunglasses and a cap for the contest.
About 40 volunteers helped make the event a success, said Frank's for the Memories owner Jim Schultz Jr.
"We've been planning this for six months and hope to make this an annual event," Schultz said.
Schultz said the contest was patterned after one held in Buffalo, N.Y., where Buffalo chicken wings originated. Wings are a big key to success to the restaurant, Schultz said.
"We sell more than 7,500 pounds of wings during a Super Bowl weekend," he said.